Vehicle for carrying waste products



Jan. 20, 1970 K. FIC'HTL 3,490,624

A VEHICLE FOR CARRYING WASTE PRODUCTS Filed June 21, 1968 3 Sheets-Sheet1 INVENTOR.

KARL Fla/171 Jan. 20, 1970 K. FICHTL v 3,490,624

VEHICLE FOR CARRYING WASTE PRODUCTS Filed June 21, 1968 3 Sheets-Sheet 2INVENTOR.

KARL F/cHTL Jan. 20, 1970 K, FICHTL 3,490,624

VEHICLE FOR CARRQING WASTE PRODUCTS Filed June 21 1968 3 Sheets-Sheet 3Fig.5

Fig. 4 4.3 1

EN TOR.

KARL Flu/7L United States Patent U.S. Cl. 214-8332 Claims ABSTRACT OFTHE DISCLOSURE This provides a vehicle for carrying garbage or bulkmaterial. The vehicle has a non-rotatable collecting container and arotatable conveyor wheel mounted at the rear end face of the saidcontainer. The conveyor wheel is mounted in a cover which is hinged toswing upwardly from the end face of the collecting container. Theextension cover includes a stationary truncated cone having an openingfor introducing material into the collecting container when the coverextension is over the end face thereof. A rotatable conveyor Wheelrevolves around the truncated cone and includes conveying ribs along itsinside' surface to cause material to move from outside of the conetoward the inner end of the cone through an opening therein into thecollecting container.

Background of the invention The gathering up and disposal of wasteproducts such as garbage is a major social problem. Ways have beendeveloped in the prior art to effect an efficient picking up anddisposal of such material as garbage. A known method of collectinggarbage involves the use of a truck having a conveying system which maybe operated in a continuous manner to load garbage into a collectingcontainer. The known garbage trucks are not fully effective in severalWays. First of all, the present prior art garbage trucks do not provideeffective continuous charging of the garbage into a collectingcontainer. Also there is a tendency for bulky material and garbage toget jammed very easily as they are being conveyed into a collectingcontainer. At present, there is no effective means of emptying the knowntypes of conveyor wheels so that no garbage or bulky material will bereturned to the filling opening provided in the conveying system. Inaddition, the known prior art garbage trucks require additional meanssuch as a longitudinal extending distribution worm under the cover ofthe collecting container for the purpose of providing a high compressionforce to the garbage so that additional garbage may be addedsubsequently.

Summary of the invention The present invention provides a conveyingsystem which may be placed on a vehicle chassis such as a truck so as toovercome the attendant disadvantages heretofore faced in known prior artconveying systems.

It is an object of this invention to provide a nonrotatable collectingcontainer with a rotatable conveyor wheel which provides for continuouscharging of bulk material and garbage into a collecting container.

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Another object of the invention is to provide a conveying systemincluding a conveyor wheel which revolves around a hollow truncated conehaving a filling opening along its bottom. In addition, the said conecarries a helical guide plate on its outside surface from the upper apexof the base beyond the filling opening located along the side and at theinner end of the truncated cone.

Another feature of this invention provides cross-wise disposed conveyingribs of low and constant height provided on the inner surface of theconveyor wheel which rotates around the said hollow truncated cone.

A further object is to provide a helical guide plate which increases inwidth from the apex of the cone shell to the inner end of the truncatedcone so that its outer edge keeps an equal distance from the ribsprojecting from the inner surface of the said rotatable conveyor wheel.

Another object of the invention is to provide a conveyor wheel having aribbed structure along its inner surface so as to forcibly empty thegarbage or bulk material placed into the cone from outside the containerso that no garbage or bulk material will be returned to the fillingopening once it has been placed into the collecting container.

A still further object of this invention is to provide a conveyingsystem which is located at the outer end face of a collecting containerwithout the necessity of providing additional means for compressing thegarbage once it has been placed in the collecting container.

A still further object of this invention is to provide a conveyingsystem including a conveyor wheel including rib portions along its innersurface and two conveying ribs which increase in their radial directionand overhang inwardly of the inner end of the truncated cone. Theseradial fins are supported by a ring extension on inner end of theconveyor wheel revolving about the truncated cone.

A still further object of this invention is to provide conveying systemwhich results in a high intensity of compression of garbage or bulkmaterial in the collecting container so that still longer containers canbe used in combination with the conveying system thereby increasing theoverall capacity of the vehicle being used to transport the collectingcontainer. I

According to the present invention, the conveyor wheel carrying the finsalong a ring extension is continuously rotated. In this way the fins areled past the garbage or bulk material which has been placed in thecontainer. The fins exert a push to the garbage or bulk material whichhas been placed in the container so that the garbage or bulk material iscompressed together toward the oppo site end of the said container fromthe conveyor or wheel end. The conveyor wheel includes low driver ribswhich pass by a helical guide plate that is mounted on the outer surfaceof the truncated cone. The distance between the low driver ribs and thesaid helical guide plate is kept at a constant measurement effective toprevent clogging of the conveyor system. The use of large radial finsoverhanging the inner end of the truncated cone in combination with thelow driver ribs of the conveyor wheel provides an improved manner offeeding bulky material and garbage into the collecting container. Thereis a much greater pressing effect achieved in depth which extendsthroughout the collecting container heretofore unknown in prior artconveying systems. The use of such fins to extend two of the shorterconveying ri'bs is effected in combination with shorter conveying ribswhich follow therebetween in a direction of rotation. In this Waybottlenecks are avoided in the conveying flow thereby preventing abuildup of material which would cause blocking of the conveying system.

Brief description of drawings Other objects of this invention willappear in the following description and appended claims, reference beingmade to the accompanying drawings forming a part of this specificationwherein like reference characters designate corresponding parts in theseveral views. In the accompanying drawings, wherein illustrativeembodiments of the invention are disclosed,

FIGURE 1 is a longitudinal sectional view of a truck made in accordancewith this invention in a loading position,

FIGURE 2 is a longitudinal sectional view of the same in an unloadingposition,

FIGURE 3 is an enlarged view taken along the line AA in FIGURE 1,

FIGURE 4 is an enlarged fragmentary perspective view seen from theinside of a collection container of a conveying system made inaccordance with this invention, and

FIGURE 5 is a sectional view of the conveyor wheel in a conveying systemmade in accordance with this invention.

Description of specific embodiment A collecting container 2 is mountedon a chassis 1 of a truck. The cross-section of the collecting container2 is chosen to provide a maximum useable cubic capacity with respect tothe inside volumetric dimension thereof. The cross-section is preferablyquadrangular. In the specific embodiment, the container 2 is square inshape. A cover extension 3 is pivotally mounted at the rear end face ofthe container 2. The cover extension 3 includes a hinging means 4 sothat the extension 3 might be swung upwardly about the pivotal axis ofthe hinging means 4 to unload the material from the said collectingcontainer 2. The cover extension 3 includes four guide roller pairs 5 onwhich a conical conveyor wheel 6 is located. The conical conveyor wheel6 tapers inwardly as it is mounted in the said cover extension 3. Theconveyor wheel 6 is driven by a motor (not shown) through the use of aspur ring 8 and pinion 7 or a gear wheel 8a. The driving means (notshown) is mounted in the cover extension 3 in a conventional manner. Lowribs 9' having a triangular profile of constant overall height aredisposed crosswise on the inner surface of the conveyor wheel 6. Thatis, the disposition of these ribs 9' is in a counter clockwise directionD thereby tending to convey material from the outside to the interior ofthe container 2. A truncated cone 10 having a filling opening 11 at thebottom is fixedly attached to the cover extension 3. The conveyor wheel6 revolves about the truncated cone 10. The relationship between theconveyor wheel 6 and the truncated cone 10 produces a free conveyingvoid between the inner surface of the conveyor wheel 6 and the outersurface of the truncated cone 10. A helical guide plate 12 fixedlymounted to the outer surface of the truncated cone 10 extends into thefree conveying void. The guide plate 12 helically extends from the apexS on the outer side of the cover to the point E beyond the opening 11 atthe inner end of the truncated cone 10. The guide plate 12 isprogressively wider from the point S to the point B so that its edge 13remains equal distant from the ribs 9 mounted on the inner conicalsurface of the conveyor wheel 6.

A pusher member 17 is movably mounted in the container 2. A power drivenpiston 16 is pivotally mounted at one end in the container 2 andpivotally attached to the pusher member 17 at the other end thereof. Tounload material th t has been laced into the ont iner 2, the

pusher member 17 is moved along the length of the container 2 by meansof the piston 16. In this way, any material in the container 2 is pushedalong the length thereof and expelled at the rear end face of thecontainer 2. The cover extension 3 is in the upward hinged position. Alarge area door 18 is provided in the container 2 so that large bulkyitems may be placed into the container 2.

Two driving ribs 9' overhang the inner end of the truncated cone 10.These driving ribs 9' are widened in a radial direction to form fins 14which are directed inwardly of the truncated cone 10. These fins 14 arecarried by an inwardly extended conveyor wheel ring extension 15. Thefin-like conveying ribs 14 follow the driver ribs 9 which extend fromthe base of the truncated cone 10 over a portion of the length of thetotal height of the truncated cone 10.

Having thus set forth and disclosed the nature of this invention, whatis claimed is:

1. A conveying apparatus for loading bulk material into a container on avehicle comprising:

(a) a cover member having an outer face cover and an inner face cover,said inner face juxtaposed and opening in said container,

(b) a conveyor wheel rotatably mounted within said conveyor on saidouter face cover,

(0) a truncated cone member fixedly mounted at the smaller end thereofto the inner face cover, said cone member being located within saidconveyor wheel,

(d) said conveyor wheel carrying driving ribs on the inner surfacethereof, said ribs having substantially uniform cross-sections andextending along the length thereof across the axis of the rotation ofsaid wheel to convey material into the container,

(c) said cone including an opening along the bottom at the inner smallerend thereof and a plate means mounted on the outer surface of thetruncated cone to guide material into the cone opening as it is beingconveyed by the driving ribs of the conveyor wheel, and

(f) at least two diametrically opposed fin-shaped ribs mounted on theinner surface of said conveyor wheel, said fin-shaped ribs inwardlyoverhanging the inner smaller end of the truncated cone.

2. A conveying apparatus as defined in claim 1 wherein said plate meanshave an outer edge positioned at a constant measurement from the saiddriving ribs.

3. A conveying apparatus as defined in claim 2 wherein said plate meanshelically extend from the upper apex of the truncated cone base tobeyond the entire filling opening at the inner smaller end of the saidcone.

4. A conveying apparatus as defined in claim 2 wherein said driving ribsinclude long rib members extending over the entire length of theconveyor wheel inner surface which passes over the outer surface of thecone and short rib members extending over a portion of the length of theconveyor wheel inner surface which passes over the outer surface of thecone.

5. A conveying apparatus as defined in claim 3 wherein said driving ribsinclude long rib member extending over the entire length of the conveyorwheel inner surface which passes over the outer surface of the cone andshort rib members extending over a portion of the length of the conveyorwheel inner surface which passes over the outer surface of the cone.

6. A conveying apparatus as defined in claim 4 wherein said short ribmembers and long rib members are alternately positioned on said innersurface of said wheel conveyor.

7. A conveying apparatus as defined in claim 5 wherein said short ribmembers and long rib members are al- 5 6 ternately positioned on saidinner surface of said said conveyor wheel includes a ring extension, andsaid wheel conveyor. fin-shaped ribs are mounted on said extension. 8. Aconveying apparatus as defined in claim 6 wherein said fin-shaped ribsare positioned at the ends of said Refe gs Cit d long rib members. 9. Aconveying apparatus as defined in claim 7 wherein 5 UNITED STATESPATENTS said fin-shaped ribs are positioned at the ends of said3,104,022 9/ 1963 S filer e a 07 long rib members. 3,204,789 9/1965 Riedet al 21483.32 10. A conveying apparatus as defined in claim 9 wherein mALBERT J. MAKAY, Primary Examiner said container is non-rotatable andmounted on a truck chassis and includes unloading means mounted US. Cl.X.R.

therein, 19 8-2 l 3

